Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
NOAA, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1984 Tropical Storm Domoina came ashore in southern Mozambique and then stalled over land, bringing hundred-year floods to South Africa and record rain to Swaziland. Deaths across Madagascar, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa came to 242, with damage of about $200 million.
Sources: Coast KZN ; Royal Jozini
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
TragedyThe supergroup USA for Africa recorded the charity single 'We Are the World' to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Sources: USA for Africa ; Los Angeles Times
Culture
MONUSCO Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2026 A rain-triggered landslide collapsed artisanal pits at the Rubaya coltan complex in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The toll rose from about 227 in the first days to more than 400 confirmed by 2 February, among them miners, traders and residents of nearby villages. A landslide at the same complex in June 2025 had killed over 300.
Sources: Eos (American Geophysical Union) ; Mongabay
Tragedy
Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1948 Charles Taylor, Liberian politician and warlord who served as president before being convicted of war crimes, was born.
Source: BlackPast
Birth
CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons 1957 Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer and three-time major champion, was born.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica ; PGA Tour
Birth
Supporterhéninois, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1978 Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer who famously scored against France at the 2002 World Cup, was born (died 2020).
Sources: Sky Sports ; The Independent
Birth